


High as a Kite

by Iron_Beebo



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, How Do I Tag, My First Fanfic, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, enjoy i guess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-20
Packaged: 2021-02-12 17:03:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21479797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iron_Beebo/pseuds/Iron_Beebo
Summary: 5 times Peter is high off of pain medications and 1 time Tony is.
Relationships: May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Stephen Strange, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark & Stephen Strange
Comments: 13
Kudos: 132





	1. Gunshot Wound

**Author's Note:**

> Hey!! So this is my first fanfic ever so please be nice haha. This is going to be a total of 6 chapters and if you have any suggestions on how I can improve please let me know!!

“Hey Pete!”

Said boy turned away from Cassie to meet Tony Stark’s eyes, much to the 7-year-old’s delight. “Hah! I win! I win! You looked away Petey!” she cheered as she jumped up and down on the grass, a smirk on her usually innocent face. “You’re supposed to look at me during a staring contest, not look at Uncle Tony!”

Peter’s reply was overshadowing by Tony shouting at them from the porch again. “Don’t listen to the smaller agent, if you start to ignore me, I’ll take your suit away!”

“No, he won’t!” Clint yelled from the picnic table. Laura and Natasha were sitting with him, making hot dogs and watching Nathaniel respectively. Behind them, Thor, Scott and Steve were playing soccer with Laura and Cooper. The others are supposed to be showing up soon, part of Cap’s “Team Bonding Picnics”. “He’s still gaining gray hairs from the last time that happened.” Even from across the yard, Peter saw Tony’s face pale slightly and winced. Yeah, he didn’t really want to remember that painful night either.

“Then I’ll turn on the Training Wheels protocol again!” Tony resigned, running his hands through his hair. The shine of the sun hit something shiny on Tony’s hand, drawing Peter’s eyes to it. With his advanced sight, he could see a silver band on his ring finger.

_Since when is Mr. Stark MARRIED?? _Peter looked again just to make sure his eyes weren’t fooling him. Low and behold, it was still there. _Who married Mr. Stark, and when? It definitely wasn’t there the last time I saw him. _As Peter turned to Cassie, about to ask about the supposed wedding, Tony called him again. “Spider-Baby! I won’t ask again! Come here!”

Sighing, the young spider complied, putting the question in the back of his mind and waving goodbye to Cassie. As he passed Clint, he muttered, “Don’t worry. Even if he turns the protocol on again Ned can override it no problem,” ignoring Tony’s “I heard that” and waving at Sam and Bucky as they finally arrived. Heading over to Tony, he jumped when the older man threw his arms around him in a hug. He hesitated before lifting his own arms to return it. After a few seconds, Tony grabbed the boy’s shoulders and held him at arm’s length.

Tony laughed at Peter’s shocked face. “What? Didn’t your spider-sense tell you your old man was going in for a hug?” If possible, Peter’s felt his eyes widen further.

“Wh-wh-what did you j-just call yourself?” Peter asked timidly.

This time, Tony had a look of confusion on his face. “Your old man? Are you okay Petey-Pie?” As Tony reached out to feel his forehead, most likely thinking he was sick, but Peter ducked out of the way to continue his interrogation.

“Why are you calling yourself my old man?” Peter continued. Seeing Tony’s face fall forced him to frantically backtrack while waving his hands in front of him. “No no no. I didn’t mean- I just- I didn’t think we were there yet.”

Tony’s face softened into something that Peter had never seen before. “Pete, you know that you’re like a son to me. I love **BEEP**.”

Peter jumped at the unexpected noise. “Uhh, what? Mr. Stark?” Tony opens his mouth again, but the noise returns over and over and it is piercing Peter’s advanced hearing. He throws his hands over his ears and squeezes his eyes shut as the nonstop beeping goes on and on and-

**BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEE-**

“PETER!”

The next thing he knew he was sticking on the ceiling. As he was trying to figure out how to unstick, he heard his door open. “PETE- uh, Hun?” He glanced down to see Aunt May staring at him and shaking her head in poorly concealed amusement. “Can you get down and turn off your alarm? You can get down right?”

As he glanced up (down?) at May, she pointed at the source of his headache to find his alarm clock violently beeping as if it had a personal vendetta against him. Groaning, he shot a web at the stupid alarm and threw it against the wall before falling onto his bed to go back to sleep. “Uh uh uh,” May proclaimed as she pulled the blankets off from over her head, “It’s time for school Sweet-Pea”.

“Okay,” Peter grumbled, not wanting to put up a fight with his Aunt. She smiled, kissed him on the head, and left to go back to bed. He sat up and groaned as the headache didn’t go away. His head was feeling a lot worse now that he was at least partially vertical, and his chest felt a strange kind of sore that he hasn’t felt since before the bite. As he moved to stand, he felt saliva build in his mouth. It took him an embarrassingly long time to figure out what it meant (give him a break, he hasn’t thrown up since WAY before the bite) and he had to run to the toilet to make it on time. After that certain activity was finished, he shakily stood and flipped the light on.

Once his eyes corrected themselves, he took a glance in the mirror and saw dark bags under his eyes and a pale face. _Am I sick? When was the last time I was actually sick? _Peter opened his mouth to yell for May but hesitated a second before the name left his throat. Should he bother her and wake her up? She had just gotten home from her nightshift and, based on the bags he saw on her own face, it was a rough night. He’s a little surprised that May didn’t notice that he looked like the textbook version of the flu, but he also understood. The mornings after hard and long patrols he was in a trance and didn’t even know what he was doing until he finished. _I’m not going to wake her, _he finally decided. _The last thing she needs is to wake up after no sleep last night to take care of me when I can handle myself. Besides, I’m Spider-Man! Spider-Man doesn’t get sick or have days off._

Feeling motivated once more, Peter quickly brushed his teeth (because advanced senses such as taste after throwing up SUCKED) and moved back into his room to get dressed. He glanced into his closet to see his suit hanging innocently and stalled slightly before snatching it and stuffing it into the bottom of his bag. Who knows, he might be feeling better and swing around after school. Besides, today was Friday and he was staying with Mr. Stark over the weekend to work on upgrades for Karen (it has been 1 year since he got his own AI and, as weird as he knew it sounded, he wanted to make her some fun new updates in celebration). They both had decided that he could patrol after school until 6 and then he would just swing to the Tower that Mr. Stark decided to keep because of a certain “Spiderling”. No need to bother Happy and force him to drive 40 minutes to Queens when Peter could get there in 10.

After he grabbed his bag and extra web cartilage he stumbled out and into the kitchen. The idea of any food made him want to go have a second date with the toilet, but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to lie when Mr. Stark will ask when he last ate. So, forcing down bile, he grabbed an apple and a granola bar as he left for the subway.

~*~*~*~*~*~

As Peter walked into his first period class, he was shocked to see that both Ned’s and MJ’s seats were empty. Usually he wouldn’t think much about it, but it was about 30 seconds until the late bell, and he knew that MJ was always early. As for Ned, he realized about halfway down the hallway that his Guy-in-the-Chair wasn’t anywhere to be seen either. As he slumped into his seat, he pulls out his phone to see where they were.

**Group Chat: Losers and MJ**

**Peter**

Hey, where are you guys at??

**Guy-in-the-Chair**

I’m sick with the flu. Mom freaked and won’t even let me leave my room.

**ScaryTM**

I’m just accepting the slow death that has finally caught up with me after all these years.

**Peter**

Ummmm

**Guy-in-the-Chair**

Surprised Pikachu face

**ScaryTM**

I have the flu.

**Peter**

Ahhhhh

**Guy-in-the-Chair**

Thanks for the translation

**Peter**

Okay guys. Get well soon!

**Guy-in-the-Chair**

Thank you! W_W

**ScaryTM**

See ya Losers

Peter jumped and launched his phone as the bell rang, quickly moving to cover his ears. He realized too late that sounds are much worse with the general congestion in his head. As heads turned his way, his felt his cheeks turn red as he quickly bent down to collect the electronic and turned his head to the front of the classroom as the teacher walked in to start the lecture. Although he wanted nothing but to sleep, he forced himself to at least mindlessly take notes. This worked well as class after class droned on until suddenly, he was standing in the front of the school and students were rushing around him to leave for the week. As he was getting the will to move down the stairs, his phone vibrated in his pocket.

**Message: Mr. Stark**

**Mr. Stark**

Hey Underoos. We still on for this weekend?

**Peter**

Yeah! Definitely! I can’t wait!!

**Mr. Stark**

Aww, Kid. Miss me that much?

**Peter**

No. I miss Dum-E.

**Mr. Stark**

You little shit.

You sure you don’t want Happy to come and pick you up?

**Peter**

No, it’s okay. I don’t want to bother him and was planning on going on patrol anyway.

**Mr. Stark**

Okay then. See you at 6.

**Peter**

See you then Mr. Stark!!

Peter felt bad for lying to Mr. Stark, but he knew that if he figured out he was sick there was no way that he’d spend the weekend at the Tower. So instead of going on patrol, he thought it would be better to go home, pick up his weekend bag, and swing directly over. Mind made up, Peter began to make his way back to the apartment. He got about halfway there without issue until his stomach began to impersonate a blue whale and painfully cramping. Looking around, he almost cried in relief as he realized that Delmer’s was right across the street. He quickly walks into the deli and waves hello to Mr. Delmer. As he walks forward to begin his order, a little girl and her sister bumped into his legs and caused him to fall onto his hands and knees.

“Sarah! Megan!” a woman, presumably the mother, ran forward and grabbed each girl on the wrist and pulled them gently to the side. As soon as she got them to sit down, she crouched by Peter to help him stand up. “Oh, my goodness I am so sorry! I was looking at the milk and the next think I knew they were running around, and I looked up just in time to see them run into you and--”

“It’s okay,” Peter managed to croak through his stuffed nose. “They seem like sweet girls. Who can blame them for having fun?” As he finished his sentence, he made eye contact with Sarah and Megan to give them a wink.

“Still, I’d like to make it up to you,” the mother insisted. “Can I buy your sandwich for you? Please, it’s the least I can do.”

“Uh,” Peter floundered, not knowing how to react. “You really don’t have to—” he began before seeing the glare she was sending him. In a weird way, it made him feel warm because it reminded him of May when she was trying to be firm with him for his own good. The look was so motherly that he automatically slammed his mouth shut and silently nodded.

As the mother went up to Mr. Delmer with him to pay for his order, the back of his neck stings so badly that he flinches and spins around, causing another dizzy spell. He hears Mr. Delmer and the woman begin to ask if Peter was alright, but they were drowned out by the front door opening and someone in a mask walking in with a 22-gauge shotgun in their hands.

"EVERYONE GET DOWN ON THE GROUND RIGHT NOW!!” a gravelly voice yells as he waves the gun around. Peter and the woman both freeze as they look at each other with wide eyes. Mr. Delmer immediately raised his hands and got on the ground, glaring at the mother and Peter until they followed suit. The man was obviously new to the whole “robbing a store” thing because Peter could see how on edge he was. He was completely tense and treating the gun like it was a stick, trying to compensate with false confidence. That is why Peter wasn’t surprised at all when the man jumped a foot in the air at the sound of one of the girls (Megan?) sobbing loudly.

“SHUT IT BRAT!!” he exclaimed as he looked down at her in annoyance. However, the girl only sobbed louder and soon her sister was joining her in heartbreaking wails. Peter felt the mother next to him tense beyond belief and felt her begin to stand. He quickly snatched her wrist and pulled her down before the movement was noticed by the gunman.

“You have to stay down,” Peter whispered in her ear. “You’ll be no use to your daughters if you’re dead.”

The mom didn’t seem to fully comprehend him, whispering a constant mantra of “My babies, my babies, _oh my God my sweet babies_.” Peter was going to continue his comfort until he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. As he turned his head back to the gunner, his heart dropped to see the shotgun pointed at both little girls. The mother opened her mouth wide in a silent scream and tears flowed silently down her face. It took Peter less than two seconds to realize what he needed to do.

“HEY”

The man whipped his body and (thank _God_) his gun away from the girls. On the downside, the gun was now pointed at him instead. Peter closed his eyes for a couple of seconds to get in the mindset he needed. When his eyes opened, he wasn’t scared Peter Parker who cowered on the floor with the other civilians; he was Spider-Man, and he was going to make sure no one in this deli got hurt. “They didn’t do anything wrong, Man. You shouldn’t point guns at people, let alone children,” he argued with his hands still in the air, but now standing. “It’s just not cool. Tends to have a bad Yelp review.”

The man, who Peter decided to call Greg in his head, stared at him in shock for a few seconds, probably not expecting any complications. After visibly shaking himself, Greg growled “What the hell do you know brat? I am about two seconds from blowing your head off so if I were you, I’d kneel back down nice and slow.”

“Do you promise not to point your gun at anyone in this deli?” Peter countered, feeling his headache grow to a migraine. “Because again, that is really poor etiquette, Dude.”

“Just SHUT UP!” Greg was apparently at his breaking point. The gun again left Peter to focus on Mr. Delmer. “YOU! PUT ALL THE MONEY IN THIS BAG RIGHT NOW!” As Mr. Delmer began to fill the bag, Peter heard sirens in the distance. He glanced down to see that the mother had crawled over to her two still-sobbing children and had her phone under her leg. As she looked up at him, she gave a shaky nod and a small smile.

_Holy shit she got into contact with the police,_ Peter realized. _That’s going to piss him off in about 3… 2… 1…_

“WHAT THE HELL!?” Greg shouted, his eyes widening with fear and shock. “WHO THE FUCK CALLED THE COPS!?” He frantically waved the gun around, pointing it at the mother and little girls. “IT WAS YOU LITTLE SHITS WASN’T IT?” Megan and Sarah start to scream as the gun moves closer to them and their mother, who was frantically shaking her head and crying. “WHO ELSE COULD IT HAVE BEEN THEN!?” Greg continued to scream in their face.

“Maybe it was me” Peter whipped his head to Mr. Delmer who had stopped putting money in the bag and instead looking at Greg in the eye. “It is my shop after all,” he continued weakly, most likely regretting his decision because the gun was back on him. Greg did not seem happy at all that things were not going his way as he turned to completely face Mr. Delmer.

Peter took his chance and lunged. He was slower than usual because his head was still pounding, and he knew that he could throw up any minute, but it was still fast enough to grab ahold of the barrel before Greg could react. There was a tug-of-war between the two as screams broke out from behind him. Peter tugged the barrel towards him and pushed back with Greg to slam the butt of the gun in his face. The man in the mask dropped like a bag of bricks and the shotgun clattered to the floor. As Peter sank to his knees, he felt Mr. Delmer catch him and help him stand up.

The mother and the two girls both ran over to the entrance and the mom made her children leave before holding the front door open for the other two victims. “Pete, you have a bad fever Bud,” Mr. Delmer muttered as he helped Peter towards the entrance. “You can have some medicine, free of charge. Let’s also call that Aunt of yours, yeah?”

“No, not Aunt May,” Peter quickly responded. “Call Mr. Stark. I’m supposed to be at the Tower in,” he glanced down at his watch and read the digital numbers 18:07. “7 minutes ago,” he finished with a wince. Mr. Delmer gave a look of shock at Tony Stark’s name but said nothing of it as they reached the entry door. He probably thought that Peter was delirious and didn’t want to interrogate him. Just as they were leaving the store Peter’s senses went off worse than before, so much so that he groaned in pain. He turned his head slowly just in time to see Greg come back to his feet with the gun in hand.

“HEY OLD MAN! THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR CALLING THE DAMN COPS” he yelled as the trigger was pulled, pointed directly at Mr. Delmer. Peter acted on instinct and pushed the man to the side just as the gun went off, feeling more than hearing the impact. Hearing screaming all around him (or were those sirens?) Peter crumpled like a bag or bricks. Mr. Delmer and the mother immediately dropped to his side and pulled him out of the line of fire as tires skidding reached his hears. Based on the navy-blue pants and shouting he heard, the police had finally arrived, and Greg was going to be handled without the need of Spider-Man (not that anyone but Peter knew that Spider-Man was currently bleeding heavily right next to them). There was loud yelling, a couple of shots, and the sound of a body hitting the floor.

Peter’s eyes must’ve widened because the mother gave him a watery smile. “It’s okay Sweetie. They got him and are taking him into custody. No one is hurt, okay? My girls, who are with the Sheriff, and this man right here are okay because of you. Now, you need to be a good boy and keep your eyes open, okay? It’s not time to sleep Baby.”

As much as Peter tried, he felt his eyes closing against his will. The last thing he heard was Mr. Delmer screaming for help and he wondered if May would be okay without him too.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Tony Stark was doing what Tony Stark always does on a Friday afternoon. Whether it was upgrading his suit, the Kid’s suit, fixing something else Dum-E broke, or just tinkering. As of 15 minutes ago, however, he’s been noticeably more fidgety and constantly looking down and typing on his phone

“Okay, I’ll bite,” Rhodey mumbled between bites of the Chinese takeout Tony ordered. “What’s got you more fidgety than usual?”

“Kid’s late,” Tony replied, looking down at his phone again. As he went to turn it off again, he saw his left hand shaking slightly and clenched it tightly.

“So? It’s Peter. He’s not exactly known to be on time for everything,” Rhodey answered between bites. “The Kid is probably helping little old ladies cross the street and cats out of trees.”

“That’s what I thought too,” Tony muttered to himself. “But he’s not even in the suit. Plus, he is never late for lab days. He always says they’re his favorite time of the week”

The fact that it’s also Tony’s isn’t mentioned but is heavily implied between both men.

“It’ll be fine Tones. He’s only, what, 17 minutes late now?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Tony responds, looking down at his phone again.

**Message: Kid**

**Kid  
**See you then Mr. Stark!!

**Tony**

Hey, do you want pizza or Chinese food?

Too late, Rhodes picked Chinese. It’s on its way.

Kid?

Pete?

You better not be ditching me, that is very rude.

Are you okay? Friday says you’re not in the suit.

Peter?

“He better be here soon, or Karen is not going to get her upgrades for their anniversary,” Tony halfheartedly grumbled as he went back to fixing one of the eyes on his suit.

“Wait, anniversary? I think we’ve known the Kid for more than a year by now”

Tony chuckled to himself with a fond smile on his face. “No, not the anniversary of us meeting, Kid’s already done something for that. _This _anniversary is for one year of knowing Karen, his AI. I promised him that we’d come up with some new upgrades for her and put her in his StarkPhone today.”

Before Tony could continue about Peter’s strange but, dare Tony say, adorable love for the AI, Rhodey spit out his noodles in a burst of laughter. “What is it Platypus?” Tony asked with a raised eyebrow. When Rhodey still couldn’t respond Tony decided to wait it out.

Once he caught his breath, Rhodey gave him a smirk with a shake of his head. “Man, the fact that Peter does that for his AI is cute enough, but then you rambling about him with a proud look on your face? You’re such a Dad, Tones.”

Tony spun on his heel to fully face Rhodey with wide eyes. “A _Dad_!? Rhodes, I am nowhere near that for anyone, let alone the Kid!”

_"Boss,”_ Friday began to interject but Tony silenced her with a wave of his hand.

“Why would you even say that Honeybear? I am nowhere near close enough to him for anyone to think that, let alone Peter himself.”

"_Boss,”_ Friday again tried to speak but Tony looked up to the ceiling with a look of annoyance.

"Not now, Friday. Platypus and I are having a marriage dispute,” he snaps, glaring at said platypus who just raises his hands in a surrendering manner with a smile.

_ "But Boss, this is an extreme matter that you need to know about urgently,”_ Friday defends, sounding concerned. _“It is a police report that I recommend you hear.”_

Tony tenses and rubs his face as Rhodey stands from his seat, Chinese food forgotten. “Lay it on us Fri. Another alien invasion? A psycho robot?”

_No. It is a report of a robbery that took place at a deli on 4th. The robber had a 22-gauge shotgun but has since been taken into custody by the police. However, there is a civilian down from a gunshot wound to the torso,” _Friday reports in a bit of a frantic voice.

“Why is this extreme matter urgent to us if the guy is down, Friday,” Rhodey asked, catching Tony’s eye with a frown.

_ “The civilian that was shot has been identified as Peter Parker.”_

~*~*~*~*~*~

Whenever Tony watched a frantic parent on the TV or in movies, he always scoffed under his breath. He understood that someone would be worried about someone they cared about (hell, if Pepper was ever hurt, he’d be very worried) but the parents on the screen always seemed no extreme. They would be fighting panic attacks, screaming about their children, and fighting anyone who went to separate them, even if that was the best thing for the patient. Tony always thought it was overdone and too dramatic.

But now he understood every scene he had ever seen of a frantic parent.

The next thing he knew, his vision left. He felt his knees collapse and realized in the back of his mind that Rhodey must’ve caught him because instead of being face down on the floor he was sitting. As his hearing slowly came back, he felt an arm around his shoulders and a voice in his ear saying his name over and over, slightly shaking the inventor. He also heard Dum-E frantically beeping and tracking around, assumedly panicking because Tony fell. When he finally lifted his eyes to follow the voice in his ear, he saw the worried eyes of James Rhodes. “You feeling okay, Tones?” he asked as he rubbed Tony’s arm. “Can you talk? I contacted Dr. Cho and she’s on her way.”

“I don’t need Dr. Cho,” Tony insisted as he shifted to his knees. “I’m fine, promise.”

Rhodey’s frown didn’t leave his face, though. “I don’t know, Tones. I think Dr. Cho needs to check you out before we get Peter here.”

“HELL NO!” Tony yelled at the top of his lungs as he shoots to his feet, ignoring the sense of vertigo. “YOU CAN STOP ME!”

“Tony, calm down,” Rhodey consoled. “You have to take a breather.”

“BULLSHIT! MY _KID _JUST GOT SHOT AND YOU EXPECT ME TO _SIT HERE _AND _WAIT_!? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!” Tony responded, already calling a suit and having it form around his body. Before Rhodey could interject again, Tony was gone, leaving him without a glance.

Rhodey remained standing there in shock before smiling to himself as he went to grab his own suit. “Your kid, huh?”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Tony was trying and failing to focus on anything other than Peter. Friday, being the amazing girl that she is, automatically marked the crime location and was flying the suit there on her own. As Tony attempted to control his breathing, Friday came on through the comms. “_Boss, we are arriving at the crime scene,”_ she said in his ear, somehow knowing that he needed the calm and comfort. When Tony (or Friday) landed in the suit, he swore he was going to have a heart attack.

Peter was laying on his back in a pool of blood with paramedics and police officers surrounding him. The boy was pale, with blood seeping out from his abdomen and mouth. His entire body was limp, and he wasn’t responding to any of the pokes and prods from the medics. As he started to step towards him, a woman and man stepped into his line of sight.

“Tony? Tony Stark?” the man asked, almost frantic.

Just like that, all of Tony’s horror shifted to rage. “Look, I don’t have time for this so get out of my way!” he explained as kindly as possible.

“No! Wait! We need to know Peter’s blood type!” the woman pleaded, tears falling out of her blue eyes. “He needs blood and we need to know if either of us are a match!”

Tony’s rage dissipated to a small annoyance as he continued on his path. “Thank you so much for the offer, but I’m going to be carrying him to the Tower right now where our top doctors and surgeons are waiting. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” With that, Tony brushed passed them and rushed to the injured boy. Once he got there, the medics stared for a split second before continuing their work.

“Mr. Stark?” a blonde-haired medic asked tentatively, placing a small hand on his shoulder. “I’m one of the EMTs. Do you need anything, Sir?”

“Pe- Peter,” Tony managed to say. “Peter?”

“We’re doing the best that we can right now,” she reassured, her green eyes softening with a smile. Before Tony could interject, she continued as she gently led him away from the scene. “We saw the intern badge in his wallet while looking for a blood type. I am assuming that is why you are here?” At Tony’s frantic nod, she continued. “Okay. We looked at his emergency contacts and you were listed so I can legally tell you what’s going on. At approximately 18:09 Peter Parker sustained a GSW to the upper right quadrant of his abdomen. He is responsive to painful stimuli but not conscious, so his airway is being monitored closely. There is no exit wound so he will need to go into surgery once we arrive at the hospital. He is showing signs of shock due to hypovolemia and therefore is getting 15 liters of oxygen on a nonrebreather and being kept warm with a blanket.”

"I need to take him,” Tony insisted, trying to push past the young woman. “I nee- need to… to get him to th-the T-Tower. We have… doctors… they can h-help save… they can… oh God!” With a whine, Tony collapsed on the floor, the EMT catching him before he could hit the ground.

“Mr. Stark?” she asked, causing Tony to breath even faster.

_That’s what Pete calls me_, he thought distantly. As his ears started to ring, he heard another thud on the ground and saw Rhodey out of the corner of his eye, coming towards the two. The girl completely ignored him, choosing instead to fully face Tony.

“Okay, okay Tony. You are going to have to breath with me,” she commanded in a quiet but firm voice. “You are having a panic attack and need to focus on my voice, okay?” when Tony brought up the will to look at her, she smiled. “That’s it, Bud. Now, why don’t you tell me about the Avengers? Who’s your favorite?”

“Umm, uh,” Tony mumbled before clearing his throat. “Probably Spider-Man.” He heard Rhodes give a weak chuckle and a hand on his shoulder, squeezing slightly.

The girl’s eyes lit up. “Okay, me too! I love how he can be so quirky and sarcastic! Umm, who is the most annoying Avenger?”

The thought actually got a small chuckle out of him. “Probably Clint. He is the worst when it comes to stealth.”

Rhodey then decided to jump in and add his own opinion. “The amount of times we’ve had to try and get him out of the vents is ridiculous.”

“Wow,” she replied. “Those have got to be some big vents for him to fit and hold his weight.”

“Oh, they don’t,” Tony responses, not even noticing that his breathing was back to normal. “I can’t tell you how many times he’s fallen through the ceiling and acted like it was a completely normal thing.”

That brought a laugh out of the girl and Rhodey a small smile and shake of the head. Her smile lessened a bit when she looked past him to his right. As Tony looked over, his heart stopped again to see Peter in a stretcher and a mask on his face. The girl must’ve noticed his panic rising again because she placed a hand on the shoulder that wasn’t already occupied by Rhodey. Having him face her, she smiled. “If you want, you can ride with us in the ambulance. However,” she looked at Rhodey apologetically. “We only have room for one guest. I apologize Mr. Rhodes.”

Rhodey smiled in response. “It’s no problem at all, I’ll just fly over and meet you there. Besides, you seem to be able those panic attacks pretty well.”

Her cheeks turned a light shade of red as she thanked him and immediately went back to a professional stance. “Okay, Sir, if you could come with me.” Tony stood up and glanced down at himself, causing the EMT to chuckle. “The suit won’t fit in the ambulance, so you’ll have to take it off if you want to come along,” she mentioned. Tony quickly opened the suit and stepped out as it shot off back to the Tower. As they were heading towards the ambulance, he heard the EMT mutter, “That was awesome.”

As they got in, Tony saw two different EMTs working on Peter. One was controlling the bleeding and one was putting in an IV for fluids. Tony’s heart sank a little more. _The kid hates needles. He’s going to be so scared if- when, WHEN he wakes up. _The one putting an IV in Peter looked up at the two. “Hey, Ryn,” he said. “Can you record his vitals and make sure his airway is good?”

“Sure,” the girl who was with Tony responded, rushing to Peter’s head. “Inform the hospital that the route has changed, and he is no longer going to Queens Memorial.”

The man snapped his head up at the statement. “What? No way, he’s a Gold Alert and the hospital is only 17 minutes away! It’s the closest one!”

“No, it’s not,” Ryn responded calmly, still holding Peter’s airway open. “Tony Stark here has his Tower less than 12 minutes away along with a team of surgeons and doctors waiting. Is that correct, Sir?”

Tony snapped out of his shock and turned into multibillionaire mode. “Yes, it is. This boy here is my personal intern and I am also his emergency contact. He has a condition where some normal medications don’t have the desired affect and we have medication specific to him at the Tower. We are taking him to my Tower.”

The man sighed as he radioed the hospital and informed the driver. The next thing Tony knew, they were off. As Tony looks down at hi- the kid, he felt tears come back to his eyes and raised his shaking hand to grab Peter’s.

“Hang on, Buddy. Just hang on for me.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

As soon as the ambulance arrived at the Tower, Bruce Banner, Pepper Potts, and Rhodey came running out. The occupants in the ambulance quickly exited it with Peter and rushed towards the others, Tony never once letting go of the hand he promised himself to hold.

"Tony!” Pepper yelled, touching his shoulder and face falling when she looked down at Peter. After a couple of seconds, she steeled herself and grabbed Tony’s other hand. “Follow me. Our doctor is waiting in the OR to begin,” she told the EMTs, because it was obvious that Tony couldn’t successfully lead everyone.

As they made their way through the lobby, many bystanders were staring and pointing at the scene before them. Pepper just had to look at Happy to get the security to back everyone away from them. Though it was obvious that the “Forehead of Security” wanted to follow them based on the frantic looks back what seemed like every second, he knew that Tony, Pepper, and, most importantly, Peter, needed him to do his job right now.

Once they all got the stretcher into the elevator, Friday immediately closed the doors and moved the elevator to the Med-Bay floor as fast as was safe. The silent ride up was only interrupted by the sound of the portable oxygen and occasional beeping as each floor was pasted. After what seemed like enough time for Tony to gain an entire head of gray hairs, the doors opened on the appropriate floor. The group immediately followed Dr. Banner down to hall to the OR. As soon as they walked in, Ryn began to talk.

“I’m sure you know most of this, but this is Peter Parker, 16, who suffered a GSW in the upper right quadrant of his abdomen. Bleeding has gone down but hasn’t stopped and there is no exit wound. He is tachycardic and becoming hypovolemic. Vitals are BP of 90/62, pulse of 127, resp. rate of 20 and SpO2 was 72% but has since raised to 95% with 15 liters nonrebreather.” *

"Thank you,” Dr. Cho responded. “Can we do a sheet pull? On my count. 1, 2, 3.” With that, Peter was moved to the Tower stretcher and the EMT team left to begin their report in the waiting room. As Dr. Cho began to wheel Peter away, she realized that Tony still had Peter’s hand. “Tony, you have to let go. Right now.” When Tony still didn’t move, Pepper came forward and pried Peter’s hand out of his.

“It’s okay,” she whispered in his ear. “They’re going to help him. Come on, Tony.”

Right before the stretcher went around the corner, Tony found his voice again. “Cho!!” As she turned around, Tony felt his face crumple. “Save him.”

With a nod and a turn of her head, Dr. Cho, Bruce Banner, and one of Tony’s reasons for living left his sight.

~*~*~*~*~*~

It had been four hours. Rhodey understood that these things took time, especially since the kid was shot with a shotgun. Even the thought made the man wince. A shotgun, what monster shoots a 16-year-old kid with a shotgun? Granted, that kid was a superpowered Spider-Kid who could catch a bus with his bare hands and had super healing, but the damn robber didn’t know that! It’s a horrible thing to do and he hopes that the man who shot Peter would rot in the 7th level of hell. But, as much as he hated himself for even thinking it, it was maybe better that Peter got shot over anyone else in the store. Rhodey knew that the Kid’s guilt complex rivaled even Tony’s so if anyone else had gotten hurt, he’d be drowning. Another thing is that Peter is enhanced and has super healing, giving him a higher probability of survival. Lord knows that if that man had shot either of the crying little girls on scene there would’ve been no chance for them.

As he turned his head back to Tony, he immediately regretted his thoughts. His best friend had been a walking ball of anxiety for the first three hours, constantly pacing back in forth and muttering to himself and occasionally rubbing his face and snapping his eyes to the doorway Peter went through. His behavior was even extreme enough to have the EMTs checking up on him before they received another call and had to transfer their report before leaving. At hour 3, May, who had been notified by Pepper and was picked up by Happy, snuck a small sleeping drought in the water that Pepper managed to force down him. He was currently passed out with his head in Pepper’s lap and legs in May’s as the two women whispered quietly. May has had a constant stream of silent tears running down her face and it was obvious that, while Pepper was trying her best to comfort May, her own face was covered in tear tracks. Happy was sitting on the other side of May, occasionally rubbing her back in comfort. The closer Rhodey looked, though, the paler the other man seemed to be. Peter had a way of worming into everyone’s hearts and growing like a fungus (hell, half of the problems the Avengers had been solved because so many have become entranced by the fumbling teenager) and it seemed Happy was no different. He and Rhodey have exchanged glances between each other throughout the time it’s taken for the surgery, both torn between worry for the kid and worry for Tony. The superhero was almost never like this, really bad, unless something was very wrong.

Rhodey was left to his thoughts until he heard someone softly calling his name. He looked up towards the voice to meet the eyes of the kid’s aunt. “Hey, how are you doing?” she asked gently, reaching over Happy to place a hand on his knee. He opened his mouth to claim he was fine but jumped when May’s other hand reached for his face, rubbing under his eyes. When she pulled away, her fingers were wet and Rhodey realized with a jolt that it was because he was crying. He couldn’t remember the last time he had cried, probably when he found Tony in Afghanistan. He quickly shut his mouth and settled for placing his hand on top of hers to both gain and offer comfort. Just as he looked back over to the door Peter had disappeared down over 4 hours ago, he gave a surprised chuckle.

_Speaking of the Kid growing on people like fungus, _he thought to himself. _I guess I no one, including myself, was spared._

~*~*~*~*~*~

Tony scrunched his eyes when he felt someone shaking his shoulder. He was tired for some reason and the voices around him were just mumbled versions of his name. He tried to go back to sleep but discovered that he was in a very uncomfortable position, especially for his age. He felt more than heard himself give a little grunt, hearing a watery chuckle in response. Tony frowned to himself as he struggled to connect the dots. That laugh sounded like Pep, but she sounded sad. Wait, why was Pepper sad? He frantically searched through his mind for any possible missed birthdays or anniversaries, but his mind came up blank. He thinks he has another giant stuffed bunny somewhere just in case he missed something and opened his eyes, ready to apologize. He sees both Pepper and may looking down at him and smiling through tears. “Hi?” Tony mumbled. “Is this some sort of weird get together to watch me sleep? I know it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to see but damn,” he finished, trying to lift the seemingly down moods.

“Boss, how are you doing?” Happy, who Tony just realized was here, asked. “You’re not looking great,”

“I don’t know,” Tony admitted. “The last thing I remember was having some water while we… while we were…” his eyes flew open to the size of saucers. “PETER!”

Pepper, likely expecting this to happen, gently held him down and immediately started to explain. “Peter’s been in surgery for about 6 hours now. You weren’t sleeping so we gave you a small sleeping drought meant to calm you down. Bruce must’ve given us a little too much because you fell asleep for a while, but we wanted to wake you. Peter’s almost out of surgery.”

After finishing her explanation, she let Tony sit up but kept him in his seat. The five adults didn’t need to wait much longer when Dr. Cho, Bruce, and another man walked out into the waiting room. May and Tony immediately shot up to their feet, closely followed by the others. Once they all met in the middle, Tony got right to the point. “How is Peter? Is he going to be okay?”

Bruce’s eyes softened as he looked at them. “The surgery was a complete success. Peter’s going to be fine other than a few weeks recovery time. There were some close calls, but we managed to get all the shotgun balls out of him and repaired what was damaged. He’s sleeping in his room now.”

After a collective sigh from the group, Pepper turned to the _strange _(haha) man. “I’m not sure I’ve met you before, are you one of our doctors?” she asked, holding out a hand.

“No,” the man replied with a chuckle. “I was notified by Thor that my assistance was needed. Apparently, he was with Dr. Banner when he got the alert and Thor freaked out some. At first, I thought it would be another invasion, but it turns out my doctor side was needed. My name is Dr. Stephen Strange.” The man finished, holding out a trembling hand.

“Wait,” Tony interjected while he couldn’t help smirking. “Your name is Dr. Strange? Is that your stripper name?”

“According to Thor, Dr. Strange is also wizard who, what was it?” Bruce turned to Dr. Strange with a smirk. “Made Loki freefall for over half an hour?”

“Yes, that did happen,” Strange responded calmly. He then turned to the group of adults. “Would you like to see Peter?” At the chorus of yesses, he led the group to the room Peter was in and opened the door.

The first thing that Tony heard was a monotonous beeping. He heard May gasp in front of them and then rush into the room. As soon as Tony was able to look in, he almost collapsed on himself.

Peter looked so small on the hospital bed. Even compared to the white sheets, Peter looked white everywhere but his cheeks and tired with bags under his eyes. His face was flushed, and he had a nasal cannula under his nose. Looking at the wires around him, Tony saw a IV that was giving him fluids and medicines. His chest was covered in bandages and his chest was rising and falling slowly. All in all, the Kid didn’t look his best.

As Tony went to Peter’s left side (May was already sitting on his right, holding his hand and looking at the vitals on the monitor) Bruce spoke up again. “We also found out on the table that Peter has the flu. If he was a normal 16-year-old boy, it would’ve caused some major issues but with his advanced healing he didn’t have any major issues. He’s just going to feel off for a bit.”

“He’s going to be okay though, right?” May asked, not taking her eyes of her boy.

“He should be fine. He was out the entire surgery since we had Cap’s pills, worked pretty well for him too.”

_Thank God, _Tony thought as he looked up to his science bud. “You know when he should be waking up?”

Bruce put his finger under his chin and gained a thoughtful expression. “Well, a normal person would take about two to four hours to wake up, but even then, they’d be pretty out of it. However, given that is Peter is one of the most stubborn patients I’ve met and his fast metabolism, I’d say— ”

Whatever Bruce was going to say was cut off by a groan from the resident Spider. Everyone circled the bed, close enough to be seen but not so close that they were in Peter’s space. Because Tony was one of the closest people to the kid, he was the first to make eye contact. “Hey Squirt,” he greeted with a smile.

To almost everyone’s surprise, Peter’s eyes widened as far as they could go and opened his mouth. “Iron Man,” he mumbled to himself reaching up to poke Tony’s face. “You’re Iron Man!”

Tony gave a confused chuckle as he looked at Peter. “That I am, Bud. How are you feeling?”

When Peter just continued to stare at Tony, May called his attention. “Hey, Baby. How are you feeling?”

Peter suddenly reached out and put a hand on May’s shoulder. “Aunt May,” he whispered, at least attempted to whisper. “Don’t freak out, okay? But I think Iron Man is here.”

May’s response was cut off by Bruce laughing out loud. As the group looked at him, he explained with a smile. “The poor kid is as high as a kite right now.”

“No, I’m not!” Peter yelled, his eyes wide and panicked. “Drugs are bad!”

“Well, at least we know he doesn’t smoke,” Tony said with a chuckle. Peter turned to Tony and his eyes widened again.

“Hi, Mr. Iron Man, Sir. Haha, I said high. But I don’t wanna be high! I don’t do drugs, I promise. Uncle Ben said it was a no-no.” Peter mumbled as he waved his finger back and forth. Suddenly he stopped and his face paled.

“Peter? What’s wrong?” Rhodey asked as unshed tears formed in the boy’s eyes.

“Where are my legs?” Peters asked the group, staring down at the blanket around his waist. “My legs are gone!!”

Happy immediately had to drop to the floor to keep Peter from seeing him laugh. May, fighting her own smile, humored the distressed boy. “They’re right there, Hun.”

“No, they’re not!” Peter exclaimed, tears finally falling from his eyes. “They’re missing! Someone call the police; I have to find them!”

Tony finally lost his internal battle as he laughed at the poor boy. “One second, Kid,” he said as he flipped the blanket off his legs. “They’re right here, see?”

Peter immediately stopped crying, staring at his feet for a full 30 seconds before his eyes light up and he looks at the group. “Hey! I found them!” he exclaimed with glee.

“Good job, Hun,” Pepper praised with a large smile on his face. When Tony looked at her and smiled, he noticed that Rhodey was filming this entire thing. Rolling his eyes, he turned his head back to his- THE kid.

Peter’s eyes were slowly drooping as he sank back into the bed slowly, May running her fingers through his hair. “Aw,” Tony cooed. “Looks like the Spider-Baby needs a nap.”

Peters closed eyes shot open and he frantically looked around. “Where?” he asked frantically over and over.

“Where what?” Tony asked and he and May made eye contact.

“Where’s the spider?” Peter responded, still looking around.

"Oh. No no no,” Tony soothed. “There are no spiders here."

“The only spider here is you,” Rhodey finished, still filming the entire encounter.

Peter once again begins to freak out. “I don’t wanna be a spider!” Peter exclaimed on a mantra, tears filling his eyes. “Spiders aren’t nice! I don’t wanna be a mean spider!”

“Why don’t you be a nice spider?” Pepper interjects, sitting next to May. “You’re a super nice spider, Hun.”

Peter looks at her for a few seconds before turning to Tony. “I can be a nice spider?”

“Of course, you are,” Tony responds, running his fingers through Peter’s hair instinctively. “You’re the nicest spider and you help people who are hurt because you’re such a good spider.”

At Peter’s nod, Bruce decided to interject. “Okay everyone. I think that Peter needs to get some sleep, am I right Pete?”

“I’m not tired,” Peter insists right as he opens his mouth to give a big yawn, eyes drooping more by the second. “Wanna t’lk to Ir’n M’n,” he slurs as his eyes shift to Tony.

“I’ll be right here when you wake up, Bud,” Tony insists, smiling at the teenager. “Get some sleep, Spider-Baby.”

As soon as Tony finished his sentence, Peter’s eyes fully shut, and his breaths evened out. Rhodey stopped his recording and everyone save May and Tony got up to leave. Pepper walked over to Tony before leaving, kissing him on the top of his head. “Get some sleep,” she whispered into his hair. “He’ll need you to have your energy up.” With that, she left after Happy and the others. As Tony looked over at May, he saw that she had already conked out with her head by Peter’s thigh. With a small smile, he laid his own head down and shut his eyes and, for the first time in a long time, felt at peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Basically he has lost a lot of blood and his body is trying (and failing) to compensate
> 
> There's the first chapter!! I hope you enjoyed it!!
> 
> Next up: Wisdom Teeth


	2. Wisdom Teeth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is personally one of my favorites!! Enjoy!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a little bit of angst and bonding between May and Tony. Please enjoy and let me know how I can improve!!

“Did I ever tell you about the time Peter got his wisdom teeth removed?”

Tony looked up from his tablet to May’s face. They had both woken up about an hour ago and were each doing their respective things on their tablets. Each adult had one of Peter’s hands in their own as they worked, the poor kid knocked out cold.

“When did Pete get his wisdom teeth removed?” he responded, putting his phone down and taking a sip of his coffee. Pepper had just come up to make sure they were doing okay and brought them both cups and fruit. Tony swears that he had heart eyes the entire time.

“About 3 years ago,” May answered with a smile. “He was 13 at the time, back when his life was normal and there was no stress, no powers, no superheroes. Well,” she corrected with a chuckle. “except for you.”

When Tony was mentioned again in conversation, his curiosity peaked. “Me? What about me?” When May gave him a look like he had two heads, he raised his free hand in defense. “Hey, I am well aware of your dislike for me since the beginning, I was just surprised that I was even mentioned in your household.”

“Oh, believe me, I tried,” She quickly amended. “Even I wasn’t able to stop the obsession that was Iron Man. As sweet as Peter is, he was very careful about never mentioning you in front of me. But he had pictures, articles, drawings, the whole nine yards. He even justified researching you by claiming that there was a mandatory paper on you for school. Of course, there was a paper, but he chose to have you as his topic”

Tony chuckled alongside her, sharing the disbelief of Peter’s mischievous side. “Okay, first of all, I need to see that paper at some point. It sounds like great blackmail. Second of all, there is no way that he was able to do that for so long without you being in-the-know about it. Why did you let it continue after you found out?”

To Tony’s shock, May’s face fell, and she looked down at the floor. “I wanted to stop it,” she mumbled into her lap. “I wanted to so badly because I thought that you were the worst role model he could ever have but,” she hesitated, seeming to want to disappear into the wall.

“We don’t have to talk about this,” Tony interjected, trying and failing to meet her eyes. “You obviously don’t want to, so let’s just change the topic.”

“You’re right. I don’t,” May said, finally looking up to meet his eyes again. Her face was contorted as if she was in pain, but her eyes were alit with a fire that Tony had never seen there before. “But I need to tell you just as much as you need to know this.”

Feeling at a loss, Tony could only nod. May sighed and seemed to steel herself before she continued. “I wanted Peter to completely forget about you, especially since he was so young. He’s been following you like a puppy since you became Iron Man when he was 6. I wanted to stop it when it started but,” she hesitated again, but squared her shoulders before continuing. “But my husband, Ben, thought it was a good thing for him. He told me that the first time Peter had come to him about how cool Tony Stark was, he was grinning ear-to-ear.” She smiled as her eyes watered, still maintaining eye contact with Tony. “Ben said that it was the first time Peter had smiled like that since his parents died. I was at such a loss; I remember just falling into my husband’s arms and crying. I don’t remember if I was crying in sadness because of the loss that poor boy had gone through already or happiness at the fact that he was finally smiling again. Since that moment, every time I would rant about, of all people, you being who our little boy looked up to, Ben would give me a look and I would feel my mouth snapping shut. Because, as much as I loathed even the thought of your name, it was your name that made my boy smile again.”

“You and Ben sound like you got along really well,” Tony complimented with a forced smile to cover the guilt he was feeling over causing problems he didn’t even know about. “I am so sorry for your loss.”

She smiled him and gave a small nod in thanks. “I thought that he and I were perfect for each other,” she admitted. “Life was so perfect that I never thought I would ever be mad at my husband for anything other than little things that wash away faster than the tide each night. But there was one time where I was the angriest I’d ever been at him. For Peter’s 9th birthday, Ben bought his big present without telling me.” At this, she gave Tony a look of annoyance. “Toy Iron Man repulsors and an Iron Man mask. Peter was over the moon, thanking us both over and over. When he turned the mask over to put it on, he froze. Then, all of the sudden, he was jumping around and screaming so much we got a noise complaint later that day. The kid was frantic, hugging Ben like he put the stars in the sky and running to his room to call Ned. Confused, I went over to the mask to see what all the excitement was about. When I looked down, I saw two tickets to the 2010 Stark Expo tucked inside. I literally saw red as I whipped my head in Ben’s direction. He was already standing and tense because he knew how angry I’d be. It was one of the biggest fights we ever had. It was so bad that by the end of it Peter came out of his room with tears streaking down his face and saying he didn’t have to go if it made me so mad. It broke my heart to see a 9-year-old boy be given his dream, to go see Tony Stark, and then heartbreakingly give it up if it meant that I was happy. In the end, I let Peter and Ben go.”

Tony felt his face pale. “Oh my God, May. I am so sorry. They should never have been there. Hammer was a crazy son of a bitch and I should’ve known he was going to try something like that.” He rubs his face with his free hand and sighs. “Were,” he pauses, almost afraid to know the answer. “Were they hurt at all?”

“Nothing besides some cuts and bruises,” she answered before continuing. “However, Peter always told a crazy story about you that I didn’t really believe until Ben said he saw it too.” She wearily looked at Tony, as if knowing that his heart condition was going to be a problem. “I just don’t know if your heart can take the answer.”

“Please,” Tony scoffed, ignoring the jump his heart gave at the comment. “Better to do it here when I’m literally two feet from the medicine that I’d need. Besides, if you don’t tell me, I’ll ask the Kid and you know he can’t lie to my face to save his life.”

May chuckled lightly as she agreed with his statement, but still eyed him wearily. Finally, she seemed to finish the internal argument with herself because she continued. “He talked about how he met you when you were walking on the red carpet and that you even ruffled his hair. That alone would’ve set him for life. However, when Hammer’s bots went rogue, Peter and Ben were separated. Peter was pushed outside from the crowd and, of course, he had his mask on because he said it made him feel strong. According to Ben, there was a bot that landed right in front of Peter, focusing on the Iron Man mask. Ben tried his absolute best to get to him, but the crowds kept pushing him back. Peter, like the brave idiot he was, raised his hand as if the repulsor on his hand was real. By the time Ben got out of the crowd the robot was pointing a gun at him. All of the sudden from the sky, you dropped down besides him and shot Hammer’s robot. You saved Peter’s life, looked down at him, and said ‘Nice work, Kid,’ before flying off again.”

As soon as May finished the story, Tony fell into a mantra of apologies, his own face white as a sheet. “May, May, why did you never tell me this? I remember that like it was yesterday. The kid was seconds from dying and if I hadn’t—if I hadn’t looked down—it was bad enough knowing it was a kid, but, but it being _Peter_…” he trailed off as he looked down at said boy’s face, horror filling his eyes. He violently shook his head before bending over and putting his forehead on Peter’s collarbone.

“Tony?” May asked, keeping an eye on him.

“I could’ve lost him before I even met him,” Tony gasped, still pressing his head into Peter’s shoulder, placing his free hand in the little spider’s hair.

May’s eyes softened at the admission, placing her own free hand on Tony’s shoulder. “But you didn’t,” she reasoned. When Tony still refused to look at her, she shook his shoulder. “You didn’t. You would never let anyone, or anything, hurt him if you could do anything about it.”

Tony gave a humorless chuckle as he sat up again. “Look where we are now!” he exclaimed. “He was _shot_, and I wasn’t there. An entire _building_ fell on top of him and I wasn’t there. Hell, anything and everything bad that has happened to him has been because of me!”

May’s face pulled into a look of anger. “Don’t you dare say that,” she seethed. “That is not true, and you know it. Without you, my boy would be _dead_. He’d be dead ten times over because I cannot tell you haw many times that damn suit has saved his life. I understand that you’re upset, I was too when I first found out. But you are not allowed to blame yourself when you are the reason why Peter is breathing.”

It was quiet for a few minutes before May gave a humorless chuckle of her own. “If someone told me a year ago that I’d be comforting Tony Stark today, I’d laugh in their face. I’m sure you know this,” she said as she looked up. “But I hated you when you first showed up without warning on our doorstep.”’

“So not much has changed, then,” Tony joked with a small smile. However, based on May’s expression, the joke fell on flat ears.

“A lot has changed since then,” she argued. “Especially my opinions on you.”

“Oooohhh,” Tony replied. “Do tell more.”

She huffed a laugh before continuing. “When I first met you, I thought that you were a good-for-nothing billionaire who cared about only yourself. I thought that you would do anything if it benefited you in some way, including selling mass weapons of destruction,” she glanced up at him and gave a small smile. “Obviously, my views were more than a little biased. So, when you came to our door and asked for a Peter Parker, I had half a mind to slam the door in your face. But, at the time, I thought that Peter had won a scholarship, so I let you in. When you took Peter to Germany, I was hitting myself for allowing him to go anywhere with you. I had to keep reminding myself that it was for Peter’s future and that he was living his dream. However, after I figured out the, let’s say, spider issue, I was beyond angry at you. I felt like this revelation validated every horrible thought I’d had about you, not even looking at the facts. Peter was so panicked that he was practically hyperventilating and the next thing I knew you were right in front of me. Later, I figured out that you had seen Peter’s vitals change and had come to make sure he was okay. But at that moment, I was mad.”

“You literally slapped me,” Tony claimed with a chuckle. “I was looking at Peter to make sure he was okay and the next thing I know my head snapped to the side and my cheek hurt like hell.”

“I did,” May answered with a bashful smile. “In my defense, I had good reason. Anyway, I didn’t wasn’t to listen to anything you or Peter said. I remember making you leave with the suit and made sure Peter would never see you again. As the days went by, though, I noticed that Peter was acting a lot differently. At first, I thought it was a phase of him being upset, but it never went away. He would almost never talk and would go to bed early every day. One night, after Peter went to bed early again, I saw on the news that Spider-Man was hurt and being taken to the Tower. I lost it, immediately thinking that you had given him the suit back and went to the Tower to confront you. What I saw once I got there was like how you look now. One of Pete’s hands in yours with your other hand running fingers through his hair. Peter’s eyes looked like Christmas lights as he talked to you and, though you were laughing and continuing the conversation, you were tense and constantly checking him over. In that moment, I realized how _important_ you two were to each other. You were showing so much patience with him and Peter, he was,” she paused to look at Tony in the eyes. “He was looking at you the same way he looked at Ben. From that moment on, my opinion of you changed forever.”

Tony managed a smile as he looked down at the kid. “As much as I’d like to take credit for that, it was really Pete that changed me for the better. Without him, I don’t know what I’d be like today.”

May nodded as she responded. “He has the kind of personality that makes everyone fall in love with him.”

“Believe me, I know. He’s the sole reason we no longer need the Hulk-Buster and the only one that got Loki to be a halfway decent person. He does still occasionally stab Thor, but he is always on his best behavior around Peter.” He sighed as he looked at her again. “Anyway, enough with the gooey sentimental shit. We were talking about Peter and wisdom teeth?”

May laughed as she pulled out her phone. “Well, as much as I hate to burst your bubble, this is some really sweet gooey shit.”

“Oh no,” Tony joked, shifting so that he could see May’s phone screen. “So, what is this?”

“A video of 13-year-old Peter Parker approximately one hour after his wisdom tooth removal surgery,” May answered with a smile. “He would always get a little crazy from anesthesia before, but I thought the bite would’ve changed that. Apparently not.”

“Okay. Well, let see what you got here!”

~*~*~*~*~*~

As May pressed play, the video focused to a younger looking Peter sitting in a living room with a plastic barf bag on his right arm. He was obviously a little out of it, with his eyes slightly glazed and waving his arms around. The camera shook a little bit as the person holding it laughed and then May spoke from behind the camera. “Peter? Honey? What are you doing with that bag on your arm?”

Peter then looked directly into the camera and held up his right arm, yelling, “I AM IRON MAN! THIS IS MY RE—REP—REPUSHER!!”

The camera shakes again as May has another fit of laughter. “It’s called a repulsor, Baby.”

Peter looks up at her and smiles. “THAT’S WHAT I SAID!! THIS IS MY REPULLER!!!” After this proclamation, the boy waves his “repulsor” around frantically while going, “PEW! PEW! PEW!”

“Wow,” May responds, mid-giggle. She then addresses the two people who just walked into the room. “Look Ben! Look Ned! Peter’s being his favorite superhero!”

At the sound of Ben’s chuckle, Peter turned his head towards the two frantically. “LOOK! LOOK!” Peter exclaimed. “LOOK, UNCLE BEN! NED! I’M IRON MAN!!!”

“You’re Iron Man?” the man asked with a fake shocked face and a hand on his cheek. “That’s so cool, Pete!”

“Wow, Peter!!” Ned exclaimed with his own smile on his face. “That’s awesome!! Is that your repulsor?”

“YEAH! YEAH! THIS IS MY REPLUSHER, SEE? WATCH THIS!” At that, Peter pointed his “repulsor” at Ned and gave a big “PEW!”

Ned threw himself backwards onto the couch as if he was actually shot. “Ow,” he groaned. “You got me.”

Peter immediately straightened up and gave Ned then Ben a look of complete confusion. As he turned to look at his right arm as if it’d have the answers, May, still behind the camera, muttered a small, “Uh-oh”.

“NED!” Peter yelled, still staring at the boy in confusion.

“You killed him,” Ben voices from next to Ned’s “body”.

When the camera goes from Ned back to Peter, the poor 13-year-old is crying, and May is quick to sooth. “Oh, Hun! You didn’t kill Ned! Look, he was pretending, see?” At the sound of Peter crying, both Ben and Ned had gone over to Peter to comfort him as well. “It’s okay!” May finished.

Peter continues to cry as he pulls the “repulsor” off his hand and throws it on the ground. Both May and Ben’s comforting words are overshadowed by Peter sobbing, “I DON’T WANNA LOSE NED!”

“I know,” May comforted. “But, Pete? Peter. Look, Ned is doing just fine, see? He was pretending.”

Peter turns his watery eyes to Ned and shakes his head. “Don’t do that again,” he mumbles.

“He won’t do that again,” Ben confirms. “That wasn’t very nice of Ned, was it?”

Peter shakes his head before closing his eyes and whining “Sad”.

“Did that make you sad, Petey-Pie?” May asked gently. “You love Ned, don’t you?”

Peter ignored her, choosing to go on his own rant. “I would have to speak at his funeral.”

Ben, humoring the boy, continued the conversation. “You’d have to speak at his funeral? What would you say?”

“I’m so sorry for killing Ned! I didn’t mean to!” Peter responded, quickly becoming emotional again. Sensing this, May was quick to sooth once again.

“Yeah, Baby. We know that you wouldn’t mean it, but you didn’t. You didn’t kill Ned. He’s right here.”

As Peter looks up at the ceiling, he continues. “Would I be a murderer? For, like, the rest of my life. I’d never go to college or get a job because I MURDERED MY OWN BEST FRIEND BECAUSE I’M IRON MAN!”

At this statement, no one in the room could keep a straight face and all three people dissolved into giggles. “Okay, Peter,” Ben amended. “You’re Iron Man, Bud. But you didn’t murder anyone, okay?”

At this, Peter turned his head to his Uncle before mumbling, “I’m Iron Man?” The camera shook again with the force of the laughter as the screen turned to black.

~*~*~*~*~*~

By the time the video was over, both May and Tony had tears streaming down their faces. Tony had to resort to stuffing his fist into his mouth about halfway through the video to make sure he didn’t wake present-day Peter, but it was no use. Laughter was spilling out of both adults’ mouths and they were struggling to keep their balance in their seats.

“Okay, okay,” Tony huffed breathlessly. “Fuck the paper Peter wrote. Actually, I want that too. But this, _this_, is blackmail _gold_!”

“Oh, don’t I know it,” May claimed with a large smile. “I’ve been holding this over his head for years, especially since meeting you. The last thing he wanted was for you to see this.”

After Tony caught his breath, he continued the conversation. “Okay, then why did you show it to me now?”

At this, May’s smile became a smug smirk. “Well,” she reasoned. “This is his punishment for not telling me he was sick and then getting _shot_.”

Tony responded with a smirk of his own. “All’s fair in love and war,” he claimed nodding his head.

“Do you want a copy?”

“Oh, most definitely.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's that!! At first, I was going to have Ben be the one to "die" but I figured that'd be too close to home haha.
> 
> ALSO!! I am not NEARLY creative enough to come up with that on my own so here is the link to the video it's based on!!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bZd6yGVFkU
> 
> Now, as for the next few chapters, I only had chapters 1 and 2 planned out when I started this so it might take a while for the next ones to come out. Thank you for understanding and I hope you liked it!!!
> 
> Next up: Motor Vehicle Crash

**Author's Note:**

> *Basically he has lost a lot of blood and his body is trying (and failing) to compensate
> 
> There's the first chapter!! I hope you enjoyed it!!
> 
> Next up: Wisdom Teeth


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